New Music update with hits by Keyshia Cole & 2Pac, Missy Elliott with Timbaland & T-Pain, Slim, Ryan Leslie, Lomdon, Kanye West and more, after the jump!

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Death Row records was sold yesterday to Global Music Group’s president, Susan Berg. What does this mean? Well, it means that Berg now owns ALL recordings by Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, and Tupac, that were made while the label was still active. The label was purchased for $24 million. Global Music Group beat out Warner Bros. as well as Koch Records in this auction. After former owner Suge Knight filed for federal bankruptcy in 2006, he was forced by a bankruptcy court judge to auction all assets to the highest bidder.

A cool $24 million for all of that music. If you read the rest of the article here it goes on to say how there is some un-released Pac material included. Who would have thought? Hah. Another Pac album will probably drop in the next 2 years.

According to a report by TheSmokingGun.com, documents used by the Los Angeles Times to substantiate claims made by unnamed sources that Sean “Diddy” Combs knew beforehand of the plot to assault Tupac Shakur in 1994 at the Quad Recording Studios in Manhattan were apparently prepared not by the F.B.I. as reported, but by James Sabatino, the alleged accomplice of James “Jimmy Henchman” Rosemond in the attack on Shakur.

In their report, The Smoking Gun claims that the Times have been “hoaxed” by Sabatino.

The Times piece, first published online last week, was written by Pulitzer Prize winning journalist Chuck Philips. In his piece, Philips claimed that the ’94 assault on Shakur was orchestrated by Henchman, an artist manager, and Sabatino, a promoter and son of a captain in the Colombo crime family. Philips alleged that the attack on Tupac was intended to “punish” Shakur for refusing to sign to Bad Boy Records and employ Henchman as his manager, as well as Tupac’s insistence that he did not share the blame for the rape charges he was then on trial for with his co-defendant, Jacques “Haitian Jack” Agnant, a friend of Rosemond’s.

But most importantly, Philips alleged that the attack on Shakur was carried out to “curry favor with Combs.”

But according to The Smoking Gun, Philips appears to have been misinformed about Sabatino’s connection to Combs. According to the website’s report published online today, Sabatino is merely a “con man and accomplished document forger, an audacious swindler who has created a fantasy world in which he managed hip-hop luminaries, conducted business with Combs, Shakur, Busta Rhymes, and The Notorious B.I.G., and even served as Combs’s trusted emissary to Death Row Records boss Marion “Suge” Knight during the outset of hostilities in the bloody East Coast-West Coast rap feud.”

The Smoking Gun report claims that Sabatino, now 31-years-old and an inmate at the Allenwood federal penitentiary, was nothing more than an overzealous fan of Hip Hop who attempted to, “to insinuate himself, after the fact, in a series of important hip-hop events, from Shakur’s shooting to the murder of The Notorious B.I.G.”

The website’s report goes on to suggest that Sabatino may have personally constructed the alleged F.B.I. summary of an informant’s statements regarding the assault on Shakur that was included with the Times report to substantiate claims made by the three assailants of Tupac’s to Philips. The Smoking Gun claims that inspection of the document reveals “obvious similarities (type size, font, line spacing, individual character renderings)” to court filings created by Sabatino while he’s been housed at Allenwood.

The Smoking Gun report also includes intriguing insight into Sabatino’s criminal career and apparent fallacious claims of ties to the music business.

During HipHopDX’s interview of Chuck Philips last week, the author of the controversial Times report reminded that his primary source of information for his piece was not the now questionable F.B.I. report but his direct conversations with the alleged perpetrators of the attack on Shakur. “I didn’t base my story on that informant,” said Philips. “I based this story on my own reporting. We came up on those documents later after I was pretty much sure of what happened.”

A request made to Chuck Philips for comment specifically on The Smoking Gun report was not returned as of press time.

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Despite both Diddy and Jimmy “Henchmen” Rosemond denying accusations from a recent LATimes.com article that fingered them as knowing or being involved in the 1994 shooting of Tupac Shakur, the paper’s writer Chuck Philips is sticking to his guns, standing by his piece.

According to what the writer told BET.com, both men knew of the story prior to being published, and was given the chance to comment, but refused.

“Puffy chose not to talk,” Philips said. “I offered him the opportunity to comment twice. He knew what the story was going to say. He decided not to comment.”

And although Diddy called the story “beyond ridiculous,” he was not accused of being behind the attack of Shakur, only that he knew it was going down before it happened.

As far as Rosemond, he was said to have helped set the whole thing up, according to the article printed on Monday (March 17), and he, just like Diddy, declined to comment, and instead threatened legal action if Philips went forward with the story.

“He refused to talk to me,” Philips says of Rosemond. “So we printed what his lawyer said.”

“Read his statement and go look at when Biggie got in the car accident,” Henchman said in a statement after the LATimes.com piece was published. “He’s putting false information out there. Biggie didn’t get into the accident, until after Tupac was killed in Las Vegas.”

In response, Philips said that Henchmen’s attack of his credibility needs fact checking.

“In terms of what Henchmen says, he says I’m full of sh– with my Vegas story because Biggie had got in a car accident [and couldn't have been in Vegas because he was home recuperating]. Biggie didn’t get in that accident until after Tupac [was murdered], so that part of [his statement] is wrong. He’s basing his attack on me on [information] that’s false,” Philips told HipHopDX.com in an interview.

Rosemond has since revealed that he’s exploring his legal options, planning to possibly sue the paper for what he calls a “libelous piece of garbage.”

As far as the backlash he’s received from the parties mentioned and the questions people had, trying to discredit his story, Philips said that he did his homework and is confident his piece is very close to the truth.

“I try to go and find people who are directly involved or know people who are involved in the actual crime,” Philips told BET.com. “I work the same as police do, except I’m not a cop so people are not afraid to talk to me because I’m not going to arrest them.”

He’s not afraid of the possible repercussions, either. His next story is about the murder of slain rapper Notorious B.I.G. Philips says that anyone he gets information from, he keeps it secret and they feel safe providing secret information because of that.

“I deal with a lot of criminals in my work and I treat them with respect and I’m very secret about the information I gather from individuals and anybody that I work with,” hes said. “There are some dangerous people who I work with, but their information is safe with me.”

In the LATimes article Philips revealed that federal prosecutors have and are currently investigating the attack on Tupac, the murder of Biggie and other hip-hop related crimes.

For the piece that caused all this talk on Monday, visit LATimes.com/Tupac to read it in its entirety.

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Sean “Diddy” Combs and Jimmy “Henchman” Rosemond have wasted no time refuting allegations made by L.A. Times reporter Chuck Philips in an article published today.

In the piece, Philips claims that Rosemond took part in arranging the 1994 ambush on Tupac Shakur at the Quad Studios in Manhattan, and that Combs and late rapper The Notorious B.I.G. were aware of the setup. During the attack, ‘Pac was shot five times in what appeared to be a botched robbery attempt. The Times piece is largely sourced by testimony from an unidentified FBI informant who claims to have inside knowledge of the incident.

In response to the article, Diddy categorically denied the allegations and called the Times “irresponsible” for publishing a story he deemed “baseless and completely untrue.” Rosemond also denied any involvement and pointed out that he has never been questioned by authorities about the case in the 14 years since Tupac was shot.

Combs’ and Rosemond’s statements read as follows:

“This story is beyond ridiculous and is completely false. Neither Biggie nor I had any knowledge of any attack before, during, or after it happened. It is a complete lie to suggest that there was any involvement by Biggie or myself. I am shocked that the Los Angeles Times would be so irresponsible as to publish such a baseless and completely untrue story.” – Sean “Diddy” Combs

“In the past 14 years, I have not even been questioned by law enforcement with regard to the assault of Tupac Shakur, let alone brought up on charges. Chuck Phillips, the writer who in the past has falsely claimed that the Notorious Biggie Smalls was in Las Vegas when Tupac was murdered and that Biggie supplied the gun that killed Tupac — only to be proven wrong as Biggie was in New Jersey recuperating from a car accident, has reached a new low by employing fourth-hand information from desperate jailhouse informants along with ancient FBI reports to create this fabrication. I simply ask for all Rap fans and fans of Tupac to analyze this fiction for what it is along with Phillips’ motives behind it. I am baffled as to why the LA Times would print this on its website when a simple and fair investigation would reveal that the allegations are false. I am currently consulting with my attorneys about my legal rights regarding this libelous piece of garbage.” – Jimmy Rosemond

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Roughly 14 years ago, Tupac Shakur accused Sean “Diddy” Combs and Christopher “The Notorious B.I.G.” Wallace of orchestrating a near fatal attack on him outside of New York’s Quad Recording Studio. In today’s edition of the LA Times, Pulitzer Prize winning reporter Chuck Phillips uses FBI testimony and anonymous firsthand accounts, to allege that Shakur was correct.

Aside from Combs, Czar Entertainment founder Jimmy Rosemond is the most notable figure named in the article. Phillips cites FBI records from 2002, which quote a “confidential informant” as telling authorities that Rosemond and James Sabatino were involved in the attack. Neither Combs, Wallace or Rosemond have ever been accused of any crimes relating to the 1994 assault or the death of Tupac Shakur. Sabatino is currently in prison for unrelated offenses.

Phillips also covered the 2002 wrongful-death suit involving Wallace’s estate and the LAPD. Phillips’ allegations come on the heels of recent legal issues for both Combs and Rosemond. In January four men backed up a realtor’s claim that Combs hit him during an altercation over a woman at a post-Oscar party. In February Marvin “Tony Yayo” Bernard, of G-Unit, was cleared of allegedly assaulting Rosemond’s teenage son.

Neither Combs nor Rosemond gave comments to the Times regarding the allegations. Rosemond’s attorney, Jeffrey Lichtman, called the report “ancient double-hearsay allegations.” The full LA Times Web exclusive, entitled Blood Feud, can be found here and at www.latimes.com/tupac.

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Tupac - Dopefiend’s Diner (From the new cd The Best Of Tupac)

Tupac Feat. Amel Larrieux - Resist The Temptation (From the new cd The Best Of Tupac)

Lupe Fiasco - The Coolest (From the new cd The Cool)

Jaheim And Keyshia Cole - I’ve Changed (From the new cd The Making Of A Man)

Kelly Rowland Feat. Gym Class Heroes - Daylight

Mario Feat. Lil Wayne - Crying Out For Me Remix

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